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Obama & Wall St.: Still Venus & Mars

When it comes to President Barack Obama, Wall Street feels there is no right way. |
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Neither Mack nor Dimon is likely to support the president again. Blankfein, a lifelong Democrat, probably falls into the camp of Masters of the Universe who will quietly continue to support the president but won't make many public comments or host big fundraisers.

While the landscape could change if the economy continues to improve, Wall Street is expected to line up heavily behind the GOP nominee in 2012, provided that person is not a populist, Federal-Reserve-System-bashing, tea-party-friendly candidate, such as Sarah Palin or Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Still, even the prospect of such a candidate emerging from the GOP field should go toward tempering ay full financial industry revolt against Obama.

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"The people who feel intellectually committed to the Democratic Party will continue to be supportive," one senior banker who is deeply plugged into Washington said. "You've seen a swing to the GOP but people are quite worried about the divisive effect of the tea party. There is certainly a devil, you know, factor that could help the president."

A more pressing issue for the White House is the fact that Obama must navigate the next two years with the GOP in control of the House and a smaller Democratic majority in the Senate. And he needs to push past possible gridlock to enact policies that will further the nascent recovery and boost his electoral hopes.

And it is here the White House hopes that the self-interest of the financial industry could trump its ongoing pique.

"As we get out of the heat of the moment of passing financial regulatory reform, I think a lot of people are taking a step back and adjusting to what the president is saying about the private sector as the critical engine of growth and finding there a lot of policies they agree with," said Goolsbee.

But despite recent White House efforts to reach out to Wall Street, bankers believe Obama is much more worried about perceptions on the left.

As evidence, bankers point to recent White House meetings with labor leaders, Geithner's dinner with the heads of progressive groups and Vice President Joe Biden's recent pledge to fight the top-rate tax cuts again in two years.

And it is this, as much as anything, that gets under Wall Street's collective skin.

"All that people in this White House seem to worry about is what The Huffington Post is going to say if they do something, anything, remotely probusiness," one financial executive said. "They really don't care what we think at all."

And who can forget the "mother" of all anti-business remarks from this Administrations spokeman, Gibbs....." we will keep our boots on the throat of BP..........." , probably the most fascist statement ever issued by any American Administration.

Then you have the Justices from the Supreme Court who planed to skip the State of Union after our Great Divider-in-Chief attacked that Branch during the last SOTU.........

Then you have our Great Divider-in-Chief engaging in "Race Politics" when he told a Hispanic only raidio station.................."we need to punish our enemies".......referring to ordinary Americans who voted for GOP candidates.........

Bottom line is liberal/progressives hate where ALL our wealth comes from, BUSINESS........and they can't deny that FACT. And the Democrats get their anti-business message out through the most corrupt institution in America...................our liberal/progressive MSM wolfpack press..........

Look only 29% of Americans plan on voting "yes" to four more years of Obama..........his personal ratings maybe higher...........45%..........but bottom line is this guy is a gonner...............but we know our Free Left-wing press is going to try to Re-install him in 2012...............

This TIME the American people will be ready...............................

And what about the fact that "community organizer" Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate, rammed through an extension of all the Bush tax cuts over howls from the left

This is blatantly inaccurate and it shows the author's bias. Obama got dragged kicking and screaming into agreeing to the extentions of tax cuts for everybody only after he was faced with the political ramifications of the possibility of no tax cut extentions passing at all and only after Democratic losses.

Along the gilded corridors of Manhattan's largest banks, hedge funds and private equity firms and inside Washington's financial lobby shops, Obama and the rest of his administration are regarded with a disdain so thick it often blurs toward naked loathing, a fact that has significant implications for the president's re-election campaign and ability to operate the next two years.

Gee the MSM finally figured this one out after nearly 3 years of Obama? Wow. How about the American public? After Obama spent a Trillion dollar Stimulous in early 2009 America spent all of 2010 with nearly 10% unemployment, (which is EuroZone unemployment for the last 3 yrs), and a deficit that is plus 9.9% over Bush's worst year,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well,,, don't cha think that on the game board of points Obama hasn't exactly scored much for anyone? If spending is good then the Liberals will be happy but Americans see zippo results for it in the economy.

Performance is not an Obama trait. However, it is an American business trait. If the mid term election was historic in terms of Democrat seat losses, 2012 will be as historic as voting Jimmy Carter out of a second term was in the 70's and ushering in Reagan.

If we do not want to become more like the EU we need competence in the WH in 2012, and it's not Obama.

It is sad to see this Administration struggling for two years to understand basic economics. The extension of the tax cuts, together with the one-year payroll holiday and compromise on the death tax, is what should have been passed in 2009 to deal with the economy and jobs. We should NOT have increased spending by almost a fourth, excluding the pork-laden ineffective Stimulus bill so that we would NOT be saddled with almost a trillion dollars of extra debt. We should NOT have passed Obamacare which is already crushing small and large businesses, leaving them uncertain about the future. But this socialist leaning Administration is still sending the wrong signals - shutting down off-shore drilling, driving up oil prices (partly due to a weak dollar), hampering credit by its financial "reforms," and having the EPA try to implement carbon tax and cap through a regulatory back-door since Congress did not approve it. The question before us is whether this country is strong enough to survive two more years of Obama until he can be fired.

That's exactly it. And how much do the two sides benefit the general public?

Let's see - poverty-stricken, war-mongering North Korea is socialist. Prosperous, productive and peaceful South Korea is capitalist.

Poverty-stricken, citizen-murdering East Germany was socialist. Prosperous, prodcutive and peaceful West Germany was capitalist.

And you certainly have to admire all the wonderful things that Castro and his merry band of socialists have done for the once-prosperous Cuba.

So what can we expect long-term from Obama and his socialist party? Well, once they run out of all of our money and can't borrow anymore from increasingly capitalist China, I guess we can expect the same thing as North Korea, East Germany and Cuba got - poverty.

Wall Street should be THANKING Obama. The country is no longer in free fall. Stocks are up almost 50% from the day Obama took office. Wall Street still getting their record bonuses. Our economy is growing, not shrinking. This past Christmas shopping was the most robust in years. Hopefully unemployment will soon start to fall as well.

Gas is always insane in Liberal CA counties. Mostly because Liberals tax it so heavy there ( so to appease the environmentalists ). After what bubble was that anyway? well after a little research...try $2.57

County Gas Prices Surge

By Ed Joyce and KPBS Public Broadcasting February 9, 2007 Expect to pay more for gasoline in San Diego. The Auto Club says gas prices went up eight cents a gallon this week. The Auto Club's Marie Montgomery says the price spike is typical this time of year. Montgomery:Refineries are moving away from producing the winter blend of gasoline, they're going to be producing a summer blend of gasoline which is more expensive to produce but we use it for air quality regulations. Mongomery says California's strict clean-air rules are one reason we pay some of the highest gas prices in the country. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular is $2.57. That's eight cents more than last week. San Diego County gas prices had been dropping the past month.

Few things are more nauseating than to hear Wall Streeters' and bankers' self-pitying whining about not being loved or appreciated enough. I would advise them to shut up and play by the new rules and start loaning money to America's small businesses and be grateful they are not in prison. Laws were broken in the run-up to our Great Recession. To our president, I suggest putting the full force of our law on them; investigate them, prosecute them, and throw the guilty ones in jail. Justice would be served, our country would be immensely better off for it, and it would be wildly popular with most voters.

That was the year Democrats began their progressive march to our insolvancy. Remember Countrywide? I bet ( retiring ) Dodd does.

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December 31, 2007

2007 was a year when oil prices soared, home sales plunged and the U.S. dollar took a dive. But it was also a year when the U.S. economy performed well — at least until the last quarter — and the stock markets' major indexes are set to finish the year higher.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

If you're trying to sell a house in southern Florida or you work for a mortgage company or if you just drive a lot, 2007 was probably a year you'd like to forget. It was a year when oil prices soared, home sales plunged and the dollar took a dive. But it was also a year when the U.S. economy grew nicely, at least until this very last quarter, and stock prices are set to finish the year higher.

NPR's Jim Zarroli looks back at the year's economic news.

JIM ZARROLI: If you are looking for a single emblematic moment in the economy this year, an event that people might remember years from now when they look back on the turmoil of 2007, there were plenty of candidates.

There was the conference call last summer when Angelo Mozilo, chairman of the mortgage giant Countrywide Financial, had to explain to nervous shareholders just how bad the business climate had gotten.

Mr. ANGELO MOZILO (CEO, Countrywide Financial): As I try to walk through what happened here, and could a lot of this have been foreseen, and should we have known, could we have seen it? But as I do reflect on it, and I do a lot, that nobody saw this coming.

ZARROLI: Or maybe it was that embarrassing moment when the U.S. dollar, battered by the mortgage fallout, became less valuable than the Canadian dollar, also known as the loonie, for the first time in decades. And the United States started to look like one big discount store for foreign tourists.

Or perhaps it was that October morning when Merrill Lynch CEO, Stan O'Neal, days before losing his job, had to tell analysts that the company's subprime losses were $3 billion higher than he first thought.

Mr. STAN O'NEAL (Former CEO, Merrill Lynch): I'm not going to talk around the fact that there were some mistakes that were made. We - I - am accountable for those mistakes, just as I am accountable for the performance of the firm overall.

ZARROLI: 2007 was the year when investors everywhere woke up to the fact that the U.S. home foreclosure rate had gotten disturbingly high and that those mortgage-backed securities weren't such a great investment; that is, if you wanted to make money.

I agree with the other posters. The implication of this article is that Obama should do a better job of sucking up to Wall Street?

Tough.

It would be great if the President would channel his inner FDR and welcome their hatred. Not only do these criminals add nothing to the economy, but they ruined it. He could do himself a big favor to the delight of many if he would get up on the hind legs and tells these whiners to go to hell.